US drone ‚kills 150 Somali militants‘

From the BBC:

Spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the strike hit a training camp where a „large-scale“ attack was being planned. „We know they were going to be departing the camp and they posed an imminent threat to US and [African Union] forces,“ Captain Davis said.

I’m pondering a number of aspects of this.

First, of course, is the US „striking“ (what does that mean, anyway? Bombing? Strafing? Missiles? Does the US „strike“ the way it „takes out“ so as to avoid using words like „bombed“ or „gunned down“?

Second, what exactly is the US doing striking anyone in Somalia? Is the US at war with Somalia? When will this war end? Who decided to go to war with Somalia? Who decides the manner in which the war is fought? Who decides when this war ends?

We are told the US killed 150 people preemptively, because these people were going to be departing their camp and posed an imminent threat. Is there a legal basis for this? Is there any sort of requirement that the US provide an international body, or its own citizens, any evidence to justify killing 150 people in Somalia?

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